Filming live band w/ HG20: advice on a neutral setting

[net]

(The HG20 has similar settings as the HV20, i.e. Cinemode, TV mode, 24, 30p, etc.)

I filmed my friends' band earlier this year with a digicam and when I got to the club, I saw the stage was kind of dark. I tried to compensate for the darkness in the cameras settings, but the video came out jumpy. The still photos had trails in them. The photos actually looked kind of cool...but I am trying to avoid any of this kind of thing again with the video.

They are playing again at the same club and, the thing is, that they won't be playing the songs all at once. It alternates between their music and plays that are performed live on the floor of the bar.

So, when they go back to the band, the lighting isn't always the same. For the most, it is primarily dark on the stage most of the time, but sometimes they really kick in the lighting fx.

I was wondering what 's a safe setting that can cover different lighting conditions? I am more concerned about when in it's dark, than light.
I want to avoid any kind of jumpiness or trails, but will at least get things "'good enough".

I am going to use the onboard mic and with the mic attenuator... rrrright? I know it's better to have an external mic - but this is all I have for now.

Thanks. :hv20-smilie77:

[funnychicken11]

set the HG20 to TV mode and if your shooting 24p, stay at 1/48, or if needed to down to 1/24 of a second... or in 60i (or 30p), shoot at 1/60, or 1/30.

Then point the camera at the subject, and i would suggest lowering the exposure a little bit, and locking it... If you know the photo-button trick (if it works on the HG20) then set the gain to something below 12 db (every time you raise the exposure one notch, it equals 1.5 more db of gain).

Another option is to use cinemode, just let thee camera do the rest, but still remember to lock the exposure.


ALWAYS LOCK EXPOSURE!:hv20-smilie36: :hv20-smilie110:

[net]

set the HG20 to TV mode and if your shooting 24p, stay at 1/48, or if needed to down to 1/24 of a second... or in 60i (or 30p), shoot at 1/60, or 1/30.

Then point the camera at the subject, and i would suggest lowering the exposure a little bit, and locking it... If you know the photo-button trick (if it works on the HG20) then set the gain to something below 12 db (every time you raise the exposure one notch, it equals 1.5 more db of gain).

Another option is to use cinemode, just let thee camera do the rest, but still remember to lock the exposure.

ALWAYS LOCK EXPOSURE!:hv20-smilie36: :hv20-smilie110:

thanks... I'm not doing the pulldown at this point, so it will probably be 30p. I have to see if the HG20 can do the photo button trick.

[Brett A. Noe]

Just to let everyone know, the HG20 does do the photo button trick. Use the same method as for the HV20.

[net]

Since you brought this thread back from the dead... I'll tell you what happened with the video for the gig...

It went ok enough... except it was a little too crowded in that everyone was walking near the tripod legs. I know there is a potential issue with jarring the camcorder while it's writing to the hard drive. I think a monopod would be much better for shooting a band.

There were problems with the sound. The headphones became useless because the audio was too loud and I couldn't hear the isolation of the headphones, even though they were covering my ears. At one point, there is an audience member, as seen in the video, sitting in front of the camera while chatting on a cell phone. The audio starts to break up. As a matter of fact, I was literally in the middle of a circle of people with active cell phones. Furthermore, there were probably at least a hundred people in the small club and it looked like almost everyone there had a cell phone.

The manual states: Keep a distance between the camcorder and devices that emit strong electromagnetic fields (plasma TVs, cellular phones, etc.).
So, I suppose being in a room full of active cell phones might cause audio problems.

The band thought the DVD looked good, but Vimeo not so much. It could be a lot better, I just need more practice with this kind of thing.

I was going to mention all this stuff after the gig and was even considering starting a thread about cell phones, but decided not too. Anyway, it's a good camcorder - but I would like to upgrade to the HF11 as it's more suited for more needs. Just waiting for the price to come down.

[net]

As far as the settings, I went with:

:: 30p
:: Cinemode
:: Wide angle lens
:: Manual audio/attenuator off

If I do this again, I definitely would use the attenuator. I had it off because I planned on monitoring it with the level meter and headphones. I still got the meter at a low enough level visually, but, like I said, the music was too loud and I couldn't hear anything in the headphones.

The vid came out just ok. :hv20-smilie126: